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NIU Teaming Up With Elgin Community College

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Northern Illinois University has inked an agreement with Elgin Community College, allowing NIU to provide a double degree or a safety net for community college transfer students.

NIU President Douglas Baker said students who transfer early out of ECC into NIU can transfer their NIU credits back to the community college. That means those who graduate from NIU would also be awarded the associate's degree they would have received from ECC if they had completed their community college courses.

Those who don't finish at NIU can apply the courses they did take back to ECC, and at least end up with a two-year associate's degree.

Baker said some community college students need to transfer to a four-year university early – before completing their two-year associate's degree – to take courses they need for a higher degree.

"There are majors where you need to transfer earlier. You might be, let's say, in a technology area or an engineering area, where there's a fairly tight curriculum of courses offered at the university that might not be offered at Elgin," he said.

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He said some students are better off starting at ECC, rather than going directly to NIU.

"Some students are time- and place-bound, and they may need to stay in their local community, and Elgin does a wonderful job with their students as well, so if a student needs to stay at home, maybe work close to home, and can't be in DeKalb, I think it's a wonderful option," he said.

He said the "Reverse Transfer" program has proven effective in similar agreements with seven other institutions, including Oakton Community College and the Chicago City Colleges.

Baker said 533 present and former ECC students could benefit from the program.

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